ImogenHeap
realtime
- Aug 29, 2025
- 31
Assume some agent S is considering suicide (i.e., is suicidal), and another agent T wants to prevent S from committing suicide. T might say, as many do: You shouldn't CTB, as things could be better than they are right now.
However a symmetric case where T knows that S, while being extremely euphoric in the moment, will become worse later and experience debilitating pain. Assuming the pain is at a similar threshold to the threshold at which T thinks S' life getting better means they shouldn't kill themselves for, then T would have to tell S to CTB, or at least that T would think that S should CTB under the circumstances. That you should kill yourself while euphoric is clearly a bizzare position to people like T who will likely disagree with the same.
Such a circumstance could happen when a patient seems to be getting better, says he's never felt better, all the while the doctor knows the patient has high stage cancer, and will likely die in a few months despite feeling well in the moment. The doctor shouldn't tell them you should kill yourself or hold that the patient should kill themselves, and just the same the doctor shouldn't tell the person to not kill themselves because things will get better, or hold the same.
If you take suffering/pain of any kind to be conclusively be OK (rationally) in most cases to CTB, it's fine for you to CTB in both cases. Of course, I didn't have to write this out, it was an internal critique after all.
Of course, CTB isn't always rational, just that this particular reason to not CTB is very bad.
However a symmetric case where T knows that S, while being extremely euphoric in the moment, will become worse later and experience debilitating pain. Assuming the pain is at a similar threshold to the threshold at which T thinks S' life getting better means they shouldn't kill themselves for, then T would have to tell S to CTB, or at least that T would think that S should CTB under the circumstances. That you should kill yourself while euphoric is clearly a bizzare position to people like T who will likely disagree with the same.
Such a circumstance could happen when a patient seems to be getting better, says he's never felt better, all the while the doctor knows the patient has high stage cancer, and will likely die in a few months despite feeling well in the moment. The doctor shouldn't tell them you should kill yourself or hold that the patient should kill themselves, and just the same the doctor shouldn't tell the person to not kill themselves because things will get better, or hold the same.
If you take suffering/pain of any kind to be conclusively be OK (rationally) in most cases to CTB, it's fine for you to CTB in both cases. Of course, I didn't have to write this out, it was an internal critique after all.
Of course, CTB isn't always rational, just that this particular reason to not CTB is very bad.
